Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My parents have done multiple Swiss trips without renting a car, staying in mountain towns and just taking transit. They go hiking and do activities, and it seems to work out, so I know it can be done. They are good planners, though.

This is encouraging thank you! We are experienced hikers and really looking forward to it!

Same, I visited Switzerland twice and don’t drive. But I have no problems walking 45 min if there isn’t a bus etc.
If you’re able to walk and have a good GPS and or are not shy to ask directions, it will be fine.
Are you visiting Montreux? It’s one of my favorite places.

For Lake Como and Switzerland, it really is more convenient to have a car. You are on your own timetable, can stop when and where you want. It also may end up costing less. Once in the Lake Como area you would want to take ferries to get to various towns as often driving takes longer, but it is still nice to have a car.

In the small towns, sometimes the inn or hotel you stay at will pick you up at the station. Otherwise you use buses or walk if close enough. It mostly works out : )

Anonymous wrote:

Pick hotels within walking distance of public transport

Ok this will take some research..

PP. Your issue may be that you want to be out in nature.

It's not hard in cities. You can even Google the train station and see what's around it.

Give us a sample city and I will try to demonstrate. If you are a hiker, you should have no issues.

PP. Another hack we use to avoid renting is to take day trip bus tours out of the city we are staying in. For example, when we went to Florence, we spent a whole day on a bus tour of Siena, San Gimignano, and Pisa. I don't like cruise ship port excursions but this very long day bus tour was quite efficient and safe compared to us renting a car for a day. More expensive but we got lunch and some tourist guiding.

When we went to Edinburgh, we did a one-day bus tour of The Highlands. We went through some scenic spots and stopped at the south end of Loch Ness and got a boat tour. It was also a productive way to see something.

Pick hotels within walking distance of public transport

Ok this will take some research..

Anonymous wrote:Download the Omio app, to start. It gives you bus and train schedules for all the different companies.

Ok thank you!

Our Midwestern-dwelling family likes public transportation and rarely rents cars. We emphasize learning how to use it to our kids because most of the world's great cities are easier to see with public transport.

Asking for help usually works well.

Guidebooks and websites help a lot.

Research train itineraries in advance and reconfirm two days before departure in case of changes. Sometimes we've gone to the train station to buy tickets the day before or even just to look at how the machines work.

Be extra early to the station and be sure you identify the correct track and stay near it. Don't be in the bathroom when the track announcement is made.

Pack light (one carry-on roller bag per person).

Pick hotels within walking distance of public transport.

Have an app for Uber if available or the local equivalent.

Make sure you have a couple days scheduled at the end of your trip in your "fly home" city so you don't have to worry about missed connections returning to that city. We recently got too cocky about train schedules and found we had to spend $400 on taxis (2 cars, because we had 5 people) instead of $100 on train fare to get from Giverny on a Saturday to Paris CDG (transiting Paris). We had no choice but to put the garden visit on our last day in country because it was the season opening date. If we'd been prepared we could have organized a more convenient airport shuttle service at lower cost.

Download the Omio app, to start. It gives you bus and train schedules for all the different companies.

I’m impressed you drove in Scotland. I’m pretty sure I could not do that without making an error and heading to the wrong side of the road.

You’ll get the trains figured out. Once you do, you might wish we had such good transportation here.

Anonymous wrote:My parents have done multiple Swiss trips without renting a car, staying in mountain towns and just taking transit. They go hiking and do activities, and it seems to work out, so I know it can be done. They are good planners, though.

This is encouraging thank you! We are experienced hikers and really looking forward to it!

Anonymous wrote:I mean, if the train from Glasgow to Edinburgh confounded you, you sure you want to do this trip?

The short answer is: you will want a car for the more rural or mountainous areas. If you are in Lake Como and just on the lake in the towns, you probably don't need it there. Use the trains, buses and the ferries But if you want to go to the mountains nearby, you will want a car. But generally, driving in the packed cities will be difficult and frustrating.

To get between places, definitely train. Renting a car in one country and dropping off in another is punishingly expensive, usually.

We’re just gonna have to figure it out, no matter how stupid we look. I’m guessing we’ll get the hang of it.
The thing about driving is that the driver misses a lot of the scenery. My husband missed a lot of Scotland because he was concentrating on driving on the left side of the road w a manual transition.

My parents have done multiple Swiss trips without renting a car, staying in mountain towns and just taking transit. They go hiking and do activities, and it seems to work out, so I know it can be done. They are good planners, though.

I mean, if the train from Glasgow to Edinburgh confounded you, you sure you want to do this trip?

The short answer is: you will want a car for the more rural or mountainous areas. If you are in Lake Como and just on the lake in the towns, you probably don't need it there. Use the trains, buses and the ferries But if you want to go to the mountains nearby, you will want a car. But generally, driving in the packed cities will be difficult and frustrating.

To get between places, definitely train. Renting a car in one country and dropping off in another is punishingly expensive, usually.

ok, so the only other time we were in Scotland and Ireland we rented a car.
We'd like to go to Lake Como and then travel through Switzerland to Zurich, by train.
I don't understand how to maneuver in the smaller towns where we'll be and where the train station is. Walk?
What about a bigger area like Luzern or Lake Como? Public transportation?

to add: I live in the midwest. We each have a car and I've never been on a subway or mass transit but a couple times.
Even the train from Glasgow to Edinburgh confounded us.